What the water gave me
by siu-saidh
Summary: Percival meets the sister he thought was dead. Dindrane. Leon, Merlin, Arthur & Elyan will appear. Spoilers for 4x09! Rated mature.
1. Chapter 1

**Author:** Sukie

**Spoilers: **Spoilers for 4x09 "Lancelot du Lac", you have been warned!

**Plot: **Percival's sister, Dindrane, arrives in Camelot dressed as a novice nun. Having thought her dead, Percival is shocked and delighted. But after recent events, Merlin is suspicious and endeavours to find out what's happened. In the mean time, despite Dindrane's protests, Arthur holds a feast in her honour, and Elyan notices how attractive she is.

**Genre:** Angst, fluff, friendship, drama, romance.

**Warnings:** Mature themes – marriage, childbirth, underage marriage, prostitution etc.

**Main Characters:** Percival, Leon, Elyan, Merlin, Dindrane (Percival's sister), Rozenn (prostitute)

**Minor:** Elestren (OC, Dindrane's daughter)

**Ships:** Percival/Dindrane, non romantic. Elyan/Dindrane, Leon/Rozenn, Merlin/Dindrane.

**Rating:** Mature, although there probably won't be out right smut, there will be suggestions.

**Notes: **In legend Dindrane is Percival's half-sister, and the Grail heroine. I took some liberties, and changed things around a bit, because it's suggested in Merlin that Percival isn't a nobleman, and that his family were killed by Cenred's men.

**Disclaimer:** Merlin and all it's characters belong to the BBC and whoever else made them. I also don't own Arthurian legend. The title of the fic '_What the water gave me'_ is the title of a song by _Florence and The Machine_ and was used for creative purposes only.

The air was crisp and ripe with cloying cold, a weakly yellow sun rising above the castle. Beneath his feet, the grass was still wet with dew, and the Winter clung to his mail, seeping through the padded gambseson and onto his skin, where the hair on his chest barely afforded any respite from the damp.

Percival parried a pass from his opponent, and grinned widely "Sir Leon, does the cold effect your performance? I do indulge the way you play like a boy, but we train as men here" he moved back on the balls of his feet and loosely clung to the hilt of his sword. Leon, obviously in bad spirits after a rare night of drinking and whoring, gave him a dark look and stabbed his sword into the ground, slumping down on his haunches, his chest rising and falling as if he might vomit.

"God, I can't ever be in my cups like that again. I smelt stale this mourn – of ale and rose perfume. You pushed me into that drinking and whoring, and here I am at my worst, like a sappling without an inch of experience" he rubbed a hand over his face, which had been hazardously shaved, a blade cut visible on his jaw.

"You needed to be at ease, things have been dark this past month. Lancelot took his own life and despite it being the only honourable thing to do after such a betrayal, he was still our companion in arms, he was still our friend. Half the Knights have slept with wives! Perhaps not the Kings future ones but alas...it happens" Percival waved a hand, although he eyed the slightly older Knight with vague trepidation and guilt. He had coaxed him into wine, ale and wenches indeed, but the man never let himself be at ease fully. Rolling his eyes, he leant down and tugged hard at the Knight's arm "Come man, and take some bread in milk, and some cheese. It will help settle your stomach on the sea I have no doubt it is at the moment"

Sir Leon grunted, and swore softly under his breath "I do not wish to speak of Lancelot at this hour, his absence, greatness and and handsomeness made a man feel inadequate..I hate to hate him for what he did" he smacked out a hand, dismissive and hard against Percival's flank.

But the large Knight persisted and eventually pulled him up, and slapped him on the back when he was on his feet "So, was she good then?"

"What?" Leon squinted in the sunlight, and spoke sharply, gold hair falling into his debauchery worn eyes.

"The woman, Rozenn. Was she good?"

Leon pushed him away hard and was about to make a comment, when a boy burst from the castle sward and skidded to a halt before him, eyes all ablaze and confused "Sir Percival, a woman is at the gates proclaiming she is your sister! S-she...she...she is a nun! Quite pretty...with gold hair. She says she comes from a village near Cenred's k-kingdom called...De...something and w-wishes to have an audience"

Percival frowned deeply at the mention of 'sister'. His sister was dead...his sister was dead. Why would she be here? Her body had not been recovered, but surely she would be dead? _She was dead_.

He reached out and roughly pulled the boy by the opening of his tunic "Lies boy, my sister is dead! Turn her away, or you will have no tongue left!"

The boy smirked, a shaky and daring action through his nervousness "The woman s-said that your grandmother used to call you 'grand-beuf' when you we-were a boy and mi-misbehaved because you were like a great ox and very clumsy" his eyes flashed, and after a few moments, he released the boy, who stood there until Leon nodded his head a little.

He looked upon his friend with a deep frown "Is what he spoke true?" his hand rested lightly on the sword he had sheathed at his hip, and he looked on as the boy left their presence.

"Yes...no one else would know that. Not even Gaius in his apparent infinite wisdom, would know that" his eyes tightened and he looked at his palms, raw with cold and chafing from training "It is Dindrane, my sister. I thought her dead but...she has either disguised herself as a nun all this time or actually has become one" he let out a small sigh, met his friends gaze "Come with me? I may need moral support on this matter and a succinct tongue if mine fails me" his had reached out and touched the man's shoulder.

Leon nodded softly, and clutching the other man's arm tightly, followed Percival as he took his giant strides across the training grounds.


	2. UPDATE

**UPDATE:**

The next chapter will be written within the next few days, hopefully! You might notice the typos lurking in the first chapter. It's one of the reasons I need a beta reader, because I check my fics ten times over, and never notice the errors until I upload them, and embarrassingly people have read them. So if you do see some typos, please correct them in your head -cough-

– _Sukie_


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